Do solar panels belong on historic buildings?

If you’ve spent any amount of time in buildings with historical significance (and you probably have), you recognize that such structures are more than the sum of their physical parts. The confluence of design, material, and human action that occurred in those buildings allow you to step out of time momentarily, and experience how past generations imagined the combination of form and function as they created a built environment.

Now, imagine those same buildings with solar panels on the roof. Does that take away from the experience?

The act of preservation is green in and of itself, no doubt. Is that enough? Does incorporating green technologies designed to reduce energy use, or provide electricity from renewable sources undermine a building’s historic character? You be the judge… let us know what you think in the comments.